Plasmodium sporozoites are transmitted through the bite of infected mosquitoes and invade
hepatocytes as a first and obligatory step of the parasite life cycle in man. Hepatocyte
invasion involves proteins secreted from parasite vesicles called micronemes, the most
characterized being the thrombospondin-related adhesive protein (TRAP). Here we
investigated the expression and function of another microneme protein recently identified in
Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites, apical membrane antigen 1 (AMA-1). P. falciparum …